Getting Started

Import input-terminal in your project:

import { Terminal, Command } from "input-terminal";
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Or import specific components:

import {
  Terminal,
  Command,
  ExitObject,
  TermBin,
  TermHistory,
  built_ins,
  type TermOptions
} from "input-terminal";
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Minimal Setup

The simplest way to get started is with just an <input> element:

<input type="text" id="terminal" />
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Then, create a new Terminal instance targeting the element. This creates a functional terminal that can execute commands, though output will only be accessible programmatically or through event listeners.

import { Terminal, Command } from "input-terminal";

const input = document.getElementById("terminal") as HTMLInputElement;
const terminal = new Terminal({ input });

terminal.bin.add(new Command("hello", (args, options, terminal) => {
  terminal.stdout("Hello, World!");
  return { message: "Hello, World!" };
}));

terminal.init();
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Call terminal.init() to attach input listeners and initialize the input as a terminal.

Destroying the Terminal

Call terminal.destroy() when you want to stop the terminal without discarding its state. This detaches input listeners and marks the terminal as not started (useful for frameworks like React and Svelte).

terminal.destroy();

// Later, re-attach listeners and resume
terminal.init();
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After destroy(), you can call init() again to reattach listeners. Built-in commands are only installed once, so re-initializing will not duplicate them.

With Output Element

To render output to a DOM element, create a DOMOutputAdapter and pass it in the terminal configuration:

<input type="text" id="terminal" />
<pre id="output"></pre>
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import { Terminal } from "input-terminal";
import { DOMOutputAdapter } from "input-terminal/dom";

const input = document.getElementById("terminal") as HTMLInputElement;
const output = document.getElementById("output") as HTMLElement;

const terminal = new Terminal({
  input,
  output: new DOMOutputAdapter(output)
});

terminal.init();
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The adapter renders values sent to stdout and stderr. If you omit the adapter, the terminal remains fully usable without visible output.